This invention relates to railway crossing structures and more particularly to an improved all metal crossing structure.
The most commonly used railway crossing structures have been formed of a plurality of wooden planks secured between the rails and on either side thereof. Heavy traffic and bad weather can result in rapid deterioration of wood crossing structures, and they are usually in need of frequent inspection to assure that they are in operable condition.
More recently, steel crossing structures have been developed, and such structures have substantially reduced problems of wear. Yet steel structures have exhibited other problems, such as difficulty of installation, higher skidding characteristics, high cost, etc. Presently available steel crossing structures (such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,854,194; 2,960,918; and 3,517,882) have failed to provide low-cost, easily installable and low-skid crossings required to replace existing wooden structures.